The quality of search traffic is most important to 85% of marketers using pay-per-click search engines, according to a new survey of 300 businesses.
The survey participants were asked to identify what considerations are most important when selecting a pay-per-click search engine.
Some 67% of marketers rated bid prices as the next important consideration. Just over half said quantity of search was third.
“When we surveyed advertisers a year ago, search engine marketers said that bid prices were the most important consideration,” said James Beriker, CEO of Search123, in a statement. “The message to paid-search engines is that marketers are looking not for clicks, but for e-commerce-productive traffic that yields measurable ROI.”
In other survey findings:
*53% complement paid search with search engine optimization efforts to improve rankings.
*Pay-per-click advertisers use few other online-marketing channels. Thirty-one percent use opt-in e-mail, and 24% use affiliate marketing. Only 14% use cost-per-thousand banner ads.
*Some 34% of respondents allocate at least 75% of their online advertising budgets for pay-per-click search engines. Another 21% devote half to three-quarters of their budget to paid search.
*Marketers are tracking search engine response rates, with 72% tracking sales conversion data from keyword listings.
Search123, based in Westlake Village, CA, conducted the survey, which was released at Adtech in New York on Monday.
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